As wireless networks evolve and grow, there are ongoing challenges in communicating data across different types of networks. For example, a wireless network may include one or more access nodes, such as base stations, for providing wireless voice and data service to wireless devices in various coverage areas of the one or more access nodes. The access node may comprise a plurality of antenna ports that may be mapped to a plurality of antennae coupled thereto. Consequently, to enable wireless devices to attach to specific antennae, cell-specific reference signals are transmitted in every subframe and over the entire frequency band deployed by the access node. The cell-specific reference signals correspond to one of the four (or more) cell-specific antenna ports, and are useful for cell initiation or cell search during handover, downlink channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the wireless device, and downlink channel quality measurements in order to derive channel state information for the corresponding antenna ports. Different antenna ports may be configured to transmit subframes with different formats of cell-specific reference signals. In particular, the different formats comprise different densities of reference signals, i.e. a number of reference signals per subframe associated with each antenna port. Overhead restrictions limit the number of resource elements that can be used to transmit reference signals. Using fewer resource elements for reference signals results in less accuracy in channel quality measurement, and can cause wireless devices to use inappropriate demodulation codes.